Take a Walk in the Snow
by BeautifulNights
Summary: Marauders' era. The 7th-years of Hogwarts go on an overnight school trip to Godric's Hollow, the assumed birthplace of Godric Gryffindor. Will a late night treasure hunt help James make his move with Lily? Let the witch hunt begin! LE/JP, Alice/Frank, and a smattering of marauders.
1. Chapter 1: Game On

**TAKE A WALK IN THE SNOW**

_Marauders Era: The 7th-years of Hogwarts go on a school trip to Godric's Hollow, the assumed birthplace of Godric Gryffindor. Will James finally take the opportunity to make his move with Lily?_

**Chapter 1: Game on.**

Winter had descended upon the castle of Hogwarts during the night. It's roofs and towers were glazed with a layer of fresh snow, and the windows were covered in frost patterns. Said windows were presently being lit all across the school as teachers and students got up to greet the winter morning. The grounds were still as quiet as the bottom of a lake.

Equally quiet was a certain boys' dormitory in Gryffindor Tower. Its inhabitants lay dead still in their beds, some of them emitting small snores and other sleepy sounds.

In the four-poster closest to the door lay a young man with long black locks and a chiseled face, currently half-buried in his pillows. In the next bed a smaller and plumper blonde boy lay snoring. The bed closest to the window housed a pale and slender youth who had obviously fallen asleep while reading, as he now cuddled an old Transfiguration book like a long-lost teddy bear.

In the fourth and last bed however, there was no sleeping going on.

James Potter had been awake for nearly an hour now, contemplating the awaiting day. A few weeks ago, Professor McGonagall had announced that the entire 7th year would be going on an overnight field trip to Godric's Hollow, and now the day had come. The marauders had all been considerably excited about it, relishing a chance to travel outside the castle and, not to mention, being relieved from classes for two whole days.

After the initial exhilaration, James had realized what else this trip meant. He was after all Head Boy now. He and Lily would probably be expected to take some responsibility during the trip, actually they might have to work together for quite some time..

Alone-time with Lily!

What better time to show her, once and for all, how he'd changed in the past months!

Or so Remus and the others had said.

James had been in love with Lily for years, but she hadn't started even tolerating the sight of him until this autumn. He had finally realized that maybe he'd been a bit of a twat when he was younger, and was now making a real effort to become more like the sort of guy she might like…or even love.

Anyway, this was going to be it. The big test.

He'd already enlisted the help of his best friends, who had promised to do their very best. Unless of course, as Sirius put it, "I'm busy with my own witch-hunting pursuits".

Can't say fairer than that, James had figured.

He supposed this was one of those occasions when - even among best friends - it was every man for his own.

"Whoa!" exclaimed James suddenly, a carelessly flung pillow hitting him right in the face. "What the..!"

"Rise and shine, Romeo!"

Sirius was beaming, sitting up in his bed with another pillow on the ready.

"You haven't forgotten which day it is, have you?" he grinned. "The Great Witch-Hunt of -77 is about to commence!"

"Urgh", said a yawning Remus from underneath the Transfiguration book, "Tone it down a bit, would you Pads? It's 7 o'clock in the bloody morning!"

Bleary-eyed, Remus pushed the book off his cheek and sat up.

"Uh-oh, someone hasn't had his fill of chocolate…" said Sirius in a sing-song voice, but after a deadly stare from the wolf he threw over a bar of Honeyduke's Finest.

Remus broke off a piece and put it in his mouth, instantaneously feeling better.

"Ah.. Right, let's get this going then! And someone wake up Peter, for Merlin's sake."

Sirius and his pillow happily obliged.

An hour or so later the boys were ready, packed, and heading down for breakfast.

Despite heavy protests they had been instructed a few days ago that "All students _will_ wear their regulated uniforms, even though not on school property, and will behave themselves according to the high standards of Hogwarts School of Witching and Wizardry at all times!" They had been allowed casual clothes to wear in the evening though, as they'd be staying in Godric's Hollow overnight.

James walked into the Great Hall closely tailed by his friends, who were currently sniggering at some rude remark about witches and stake-burning. James chose to ignore it, instead scouting for Lily.

He finally saw her at the end of the Gryffindor table, apparently deep in conversation with her friend Alice.

As James approached Alice looked up, and quickly whispered something to Lily. She promptly answered by throwing a piece of toast at her friend, which hit Alice's nose and set both girls off giggling.

James' step faltered a little.

Were they laughing at him?

Just as he was about to turn around with his tail tucked between his legs, Sirius pushed past him and plopped down next to Alice.

"Morning girls!" he said with his most winning smile.

"Got room for a couple of Marauders here?"

Alice smiled and nodded – she had always liked the Marauders, despite Lily's complaints – and the rest of the boys seated themselves. James ended up next to Sirius, across the table from Lily.

He had really wanted to sit down next to her, maybe tell her that funny joke about stake-burning…but no. That was the old James!

This year he was the new, improved and respectable James!

Who sat _across_ _the table_ from the girl he loved more than anything in the world – and would do anything to protect – and who he really REALLY just wanted to sit down next to - so maybe she'd notice him - and maybe….

Merlin.

Watching Lily sitting there and chatting with Sirius, he thought about how those two had resented one another in the past. Lily despised Sirius for his arrogance and rule-breaking, while Sirius habitually referred to Lily as "that uptight carrot-top". Now however, they seemed to get along great. They fought just as frequently, but the clashes seemed to last shorter and venom had been largely replaced with mirth. James knew this was partly due to an effort on Sirius' part, and Remus and Pete too for that matter.

He still remembered that day his friends finally realized he was serious about "that annoying Evans girl"…

_It was the summer of 1975, and four lazy 5__th-__years lay spread out on the lush grass of the grounds outside school. The hot day had chased most of the students outside, as school work seemed to be impossible on a day like this._

_The boys were lounging on their usual spot, sunbathing under a big oak tree near the lake. Peter lay half asleep in the shadow, every now and then emitting small satisfied snores. Remus had, judging by the copy of "5__th__ level Charms" laying open next to him, apparently made a futile try at catching up on his homework. Now however, he was lying on his back with a concentrated look and crooked smile, busy air-fencing with Sirius. They had enchanted some downfallen branches from the oak tree, and were having quite the match a couple of meters up above their heads._

_James sat a little way apart from the others, leaning against the trunk of the tree. He was watching something down by the lake. _

_Lily sat there on the narrow pier, next to a skinny, dark haired boy with slightly slumped shoulders. They were both cooling their feet in the water. Lily's shoes and stockings lay intertwined with the boy's things on the grass behind them._

_A giggle suddenly erupted from Lily, as she wiggled her feet and splashed water all over her companion's trousers. The boy had a slimy voice, James thought, but his laughter seemed to be filled with more joy than James himself had experienced in all of his 15 years. The pair continued splashing about a bit more, until Lily pulled up her feet to lay down on the pier next to Severus. She rested her head on his lap, obviously completely relaxed. James could see the boy's shoulders stiffen all the way up from where he was sitting._

_Why on earth a girl like Lily was friends with someone like Severus Snape, James would never understand. _

_Lily was stubborn and annoying, sure, and definitely didn't appreciate a good joke – but she was also pretty, popular, funny, smart, vivacious... And Snape? Skinny, almost sick-looking, a Slytherin, rude, obnoxious, disgusting.. and obviously more than a tiny bit interested in the Dark Arts. For gods sakes, he was friends with the likes of Mulciber! Those people were all bastards._

_And still he was Lily Evans' friend._

_Her best bloody friend._

"_Bollocks!"_

_James was driven out of his menacing thoughts by Sirius' outburst._

"_Damn Moony! If I'd known you'd actually be good at this I never would have suggested it…"_

_Two oak braches sailed down towards the ground again, one of them now nearly broken in half._

"_Oi Prongs, what's up? You look like you've seen a ghost or something!"_

_Sirius elegantly flipped over to his side, giving his friend an inquisitive look. "Don't tell me – you've got a new idea for pranking Dolohov tonight!"_

_The other boys grinned and drew closer with curiosity. Peter too had been woken up by Sirius' roaring._

_James sent his friend an annoyed glance over the top of his glasses. Sirius was a great – his best friend ever, like a brother actually – but sensitivity wasn't his strongest point._

"_Nah..is nuthin'" he muttered, trying to look indifferent._

_It didn't work. The three boys surrounding him groaned and looked at each other._

"_Right.." Remus began. "Would this be the nothing with the long red hair?_

"_And 'emerald-green eyes'?" added Peter._

"_Which goes by the name of… Lils, Lilypad, Lily-flower, my itty-bitty Lilykins? Ring a bell?" Remus grinned. _

_Sirius sneered at James._

"_Mate", Sirius said seriously, "You're my best friend, but you have seriously got to stop obsessing over that bird. What's so great about her anyway? You're James Potter, best bloody Chaser this side of the century! Gryffindor's finest! There's bound to be better girls out there for you mate!"_

_Somewhere in James' stomach, something growled angrily at this statement. A part of him wanted to punch his best friend in the face for suggesting there could ever be anyone better than Lily Evans. Luckily, his brain also had a say in things._

_James rolled his eyes. "Merlin, guys. Who said anything about Evans? I was just thinking about the game on Saturday." _

_It wasn't entirely untrue. He had been wondering whether Lily would show up to see him play, and whether maybe he could suggest that Moony take her with him._

_But Sirius didn't need to know that._

"_And 'my itty-bitty-Lilykins'? – what is that supposed to be?" James added._

_Sirius took on a businesslike look. "Well, I figured since 'Evans' isn't getting you anywhere, maybe you need a new approach?"_

_Peter snorted. "I second that! Try it out!"_

_James smiled despite himself. "You guys are bastards, you do know that?" _

"_Hey, watch who you call a bastard, we're not the ones spending our time ogling innocent girls" chipped Moony. "But seriously, Prongs", he eyed his friend with a more sober look, "You're a great guy and one of my best friends….but you act like an enormous arse in front of Lily. Maybe you need to just, I don't know, relax a little?"_

_James rolled his eyes again. _

"_Right, if you say so Moons…Because you're such a ladies' man, right?"_

"_Hey" said Remus, opening his palms in a defensive gesture, "At least I'm friends with her, that's more than you can say for yourself!"_

_At this, James seemed to deflate a little. In fact, he looked completely miserable._

"_Man, you've really got it bad don't you?" Peter sounded astonished. _

_Sirius looked thoughtful._

"_You know what, mate? If this is what you want – let's do it!"_

"_Do what?" answered James suspiciously, worried Sirius was about to suggest some horrible scheme to find him another girl. There was no other._

_Sirius looked at him incredulously._

"_Get the girl, you dimwit! You know, your adored Lilykins! We're the Marauders, aren't we? There's nothing we can't do!" His face split up in the huge, all-encompassing and SO Sirius-y grin which clearly stated to the world that he knew what to do – and would stop at nothing to do it._

_Remus laughed. "I agree – we're great!"_

"_The best!" added Peter._

_James stared at his friends. "You'd really help me? Seriously, you're not just taking the piss?"_

"_Taking the piss?" Sirius looked positively hurt. "We're you're best mates, moron. Now, enough with this girly chatting. Let's start working on Plan Get Evans!"_

"_How about calling it Plan Charm Lily?"_

"_Or Getting Lily – The Plan."_

"_No: The Lily Evans scheme! That's way cooler!"_

"_Wormtail? That's the lamest thing I've ever heard."_

"_Is not."_

"_Is too."_

"_We're not calling it The Lily Evans Scheme!"_

"_Guys? Shut it."_

"_Touchy, touchy….."_

"_Hey, how about The Getting Lily Scheme?"_

"_Or Plan Lilykins – Marauders' style!"_

"_How about I shove this book up your arse?"_

James smiled to himself, returning to the present.

The two years of pleading, haggling, asking, begging, and tricking which had followed the birth of "Plan Evans/The Lily-Scheme" hadn't resulted in much. Lily had been as stubborn as ever, and not noticeably impressed by James' interest.

Enter: The new and improved James Potter (Autumn 1977-model).

But… while being the new and improved James was all well and nice, he couldn't help but wonder…

How the heck did nice guys move things along?!

He glanced over at Lily, who at the moment was tossing her fiery-red hair out of her eyes, emerald eyes gleaming with laughter at some dry remark from Remus.

Hmm.

All right.

He had his friends with him, and this was going to work. No matter what!

So just…

Let the witch-hunt begin.

**Author's notes: Hi lovelies! I'm currently revamping and evolving this story, with the fabulous help of my beta reader ControlYourWorld!**

**But what do you think so far , interested to read more?**

**Reviews are the air I breathe - if you read then let me know **


	2. Chapter 2: A plan unfolds

Take a walk in the snow.

**Chapter 2: A plan unfolds.**

When breakfast was over, the 7th years all gathered outside to get ready for their departure to Godric's Hollow.

Snow was still lightly falling from the sky, covering the students in a white blanket. James and his friends had followed Lily, Alice and Frank outside, and now the seven of them were huddling together against the cold.

Lily had pulled on the hood of her cloak, letting only a couple of red strands of hair poke out around the collar. Her cheeks were reddened by the cold air, and her eyes shone. James was crouched over his bag, pretending to look for something while actually observing Lily. Her nose was turning a little pink too – it looked incredibly sweet. He was sure he could have spent a whole day just looking at her – she was just so amazing. Lively, beautiful, energetic, smart, fiery, funny…

He became aware of a sudden silence in the group, and got the feeling he'd been asked something.

"Uh, what?"

Frank laughed. "Completely caught up in your own mind, eh? I was just asking if you knew anything about what we'll be doing on this trip, Lily said she hasn't been told anything but.. Head Boy and all, I thought maybe you'd know something?"

James smiled at him, but caught the annoyed look in Lily's face.

"Nah, no clue. I don't think they'd tell me anything they wouldn't tell Lily. We're both equal Heads of house, you know."

"Yeah Frank", mumbled Alice, "you're such a tool sometimes". But they could see by her smile she was just teasing.

"All right all right, didn't mean it like that.." Frank rolled his eyes, but still leaned down for a kiss.

While Alice happily obliged, James noticed Lily sending him a small but genuine smile.

"Quiet down down! All attention here please!" An authoritative voice ringed out across the courtyard, stifling the chatter of the students.

"We'll be travelling by portkey today!. So band together in groups of six and line up _here, _quickly please, no dawdling there Bones, and we'll soon be on our way…."

*

A few hours later the students were all arrived in Godric's Hollow, and had settled into their lodgings.

They were to stay in an old, abandoned community house a little way outside the village, so as not to alert the muggles of their presence. The house had been prepared by the teachers so that from the outside it still looked downfallen and creaky, but the inside was light, warm and spacious.

The students had been split up according to sex, which had provoked a small storm of protests. This was mostly because there were only 4 rooms big enough to serve as sleeping quarters, which meant two and two houses had to share. Ravenclaw and Gryffindor usually managed pretty well together, but the Hufflepuffs and Slytherins complained to no end.

James was glad he didn't have to share sleeping quarters with the likes of Snape, but in his mind he'd harbored a small hope of staying with Lily and the other Gryffindor girls.

Oh well.

Maybe the new and improved James would be happy to leave her alone?

After all, there had been many times in the past where she'd made it quite clear - even sharing a _common room _with him was stretching it…

_*_

_1974, The Gryffindor Common Room._

"_Potter, I've HAD it with you!"_

_Fiery red hair seemed to stand on end, as rage-filled green eyes bore into hazel ones._

"_Can you get it into your bloody head that you are NOT funny, NOT interesting, NOT charming, and certainly NOT WELCOME HERE!"_

_The yells echoed around the nearly empty common room, sending a couple of shocked first-years plummeting head first out the portrait hole._

"_Aw, come on Evans.." _

_The spiky haired 14-yearold grinned, apparently unbothered by her outburst._

"_Yeah, why are you so mad, Evans? We didn't do anything, did we.."_

_His taller, dark haired friend smiled his most winning smile at her. Just a fourth-year and he was already being dubbed "the Gryffindor hottie" by the female population of the school._

_Their slightly chubbier, blonde friend sniggered behind them as Lily's eyes widened._

"_Oh yeah? Then who was it making those paper planes attacking us? Those first-years maybe?" Lily fumed. "I think not!"_

_Most of the time she tried to ignore the Marauders, hoping they'd lose interest. But sometimes..She just couldn't bare it! They were so noisy, so annoying, so bloody cocky all the time! _

_And she and her friends really had work that needed to be done. They were supposed to deliver their essays to Flitwick by tomorrow, meaning it had to be done __now__. So naturally Potter and his gang of morons just had to show up. _

_Like they always did._

_Marauders, they apparently called themselves. Lily snorted to herself. Nicknames and a club? Were they 10 years old or something? How they'd managed to become as popular as they were, she'd never understand. All right, Potter might be the star of their Quidditch team, but still. He didn't have to act like a total tool._

_And now he was standing there in front of her, ruffling his hair like an idiot, obviously laughing at her._

"_I dunno what you're talking about Evans. Ask Moony here" he indicated the fourth member of the gang, who was sitting on the couch nearby reading, "We didn't do anything, did we Moony?"_

_Remus Lupin looked up, lifting his eyebrows at his friends. __Lily had thought him to be the most bearable one of the lot, __and when she got him separated from his gang she even considered him quite a good friend. He was kind, sweet, intelligent, funny… In short, all that Potter was not._

"_Not getting in the middle of this one, Prongs. See no evil, hear no evil, you know the works.." Remus gave them a lopsided smile. "Sorry Lily."_

_Lily sighed. This wasn't getting her anywhere._

"_You know what Potter? I don't care. You did it, you didn't do it, whatever. Just leave us alone to work, would you? Some of us here actually want to make something of ourselves, not just mooch off our parents for the rest of our lives.."_

_And with that she turned her back on the boys and strode back to her friends._

"_Ah" grinned Sirius, turning away. "She is just TOO funny when she's angry.. Got to love that."_

_Peter giggled. "Yeah, it's almost too good! I could have sworn she was gonna punch Prongs in the face right there!"_

"_And what a sight it would have been.." added Sirius._

"_You guys are morons" sighed Remus, but a treacherous grin tugged revealingly at his features._

_The three boys continued wondering out loud how far Lily really would have gone, and whether James would ever have recovered if she'd actually punched him._

_James himself merely stood there, a slightly vacant smile playing across his face._

_In his head, green eyes gleamed and red hair swirled, like a vivacious whirlwind of colors and intensity._

_That passion intrigued him every time._

_*_

Yes, thought James, Sirius had a point. Not sharing sleeping quarters was probably for the best. He wasn't at all sure his devotion to this new and respectable James would survive a whole night next to the girl of his dreams…

After quelling the last protests ("NO, , this is my FINAL word!"), Slughorn and McGonagall gathered all the students in the main room.

They two were the only teachers on the trip, seeing as they couldn't empty the whole school of teachers for two days. In addition, 7th years were expected to manage quite well on their own, and were allowed some freedom.

The rest of the day was spent in quite orderly fashion, preparing for the big excursion of the following day. They had a shared class with McGonagall on the history of the four Hogwarts Founders, paying special attention to Gryffindor and the myths of his origins. James spent most of the class playing wizard's chess with Sirius behind the cover of Remus and Peters backs.

Sirius kept trying to make him challenge Lily, but she looked all caught up in McGonagalls teaching. James refrained.

After lunch Slughorn had a small course of a sort, imprinting in them how to act and what not to do in front of muggles. They'd be walking around in the village and it's surroundings tomorrow, and it was of the utmost importance that they didn't attract more attention than necessary. James figured it couldn't be the hardest thing in the world to avoid a couple of old muggles – but didn't share his views with the professor. As he'd learned through nearly 7 years with Slughorn; sometimes it was better to just shut up, smile and nod.

So instead, he went over the Lily-plans with Sirius one more time. The whole thing was ridiculously easy – you could barely call it a plan. But James still felt a little hesitant in the back of his mind. He didn't want to seem like he was tricking her or something. On the other hand – how could it go wrong? They were obviously made for each other! He just had to make her realize it, that's all..

As the afternoon dragged on and dusk started descending outside the windows, the students were finally excused.

"Thank Merlin!" exclaimed Sirius, who had slept through the last half-hour of Slughorns droning.

"Who's up for a snowball fight?!"

Peter and Remus looked at each other with identical grins, and quickly agreed. Frank followed suit, and then turned to his girlfriend.

"What do you say, Alice? Come on, it'll be a laugh!" he leered at her. "Promise I'll go easy on you…"

"Easy?!" Alice spluttered. She and Frank were always having some good-natured fight over which was better at….well, anything really.

"Just who do you think you're talking to exactly?" she snorted at Frank, and turned to her best friend for support.

"Come on Lily, we'll _crush_ them!!"

Lily just laughed as Alice took her by the arm, and then they both chased after Frank, Remus and Peter outside.

Sirius looked over at James, the two being the only ones left inside.

"Well then, Prongs, part A of the plan is in motion…"

He smirked.

"Time to watch as it unfolds."


	3. Chapter 3: The art of igniting a spark

Take a walk in the snow.

**Chapter 3: The art of igniting a spark.**

Gathering outside the house, the gang rapidly split up in teams for the snowball fight; Alice, Lily, Remus and Peter against Sirius, Frank and James.

Lily initially thought it would be an easy win for the other team, but as the night progressed it seemed Alice had been serious in her promise to crush Frank to a pulp. The fight soon evolved into a full-scale snow war, and the kids howled with joy as the preyed on each other and attacked with all snow-related means possible.

By the time it got too dark too keep fighting, both teams were soaking wet and exhausted – but happy.

Sirius had lost his sweater being ambushed by Remus, and his white shirt now clung wet and see-through to his body. This caused him quite a few lusty stares from female students out playing or walking in the snow (Lily suspected quite a lot of them hung around mostly to see the half naked Black, though). This obviously didn't pass by Sirius unnoticed, and he made a big show out of taking off his shirt and loudly inspecting it for rips and tears.

After a couple of minutes' showing off, to the excitement of the watching girls and barely suppressed laughter of his friends, Remus eventually made Sirius dress again("Merlin, Pads! You'll catch pneumonia.."). He practically forced the dark-haired boy's sweater over his head with a disgruntled look.

Lily giggled to herself. In their younger years it had annoyed her extremely how Sirius took advantage of his looks and acted so arrogantly, but lately she felt like she had gotten to know him better. Actually, she felt like all the marauders had calmed down a fair bit this last year – maybe they were finally growing up? James had even stopped asking her out whenever he saw her. Which was good, she supposed, but at the same time…

Well, maybe she secretly had enjoyed the attention a little bit? Wasn't a girl allowed some guilty pleasures?

_*_

"_Hey Evans, looking beautiful as ever today. Plans for Saturday night?"_

_16-yearold Lily looked up from her essay, not surprised to see James Potter leaning over the table and looking at her. He ruffled his hair._

"_Go away Potter" she said distractedly, turning back to her paper. She had 400 words left to write, but had run out of smart things to say about Animagi about 1000 words ago. She had thought last year was bad, but now in 6th year they demanded even more!_

"_Not until you say yes" the boy answered, apparently unbothered by her uninterested response._

"_Which is not going to happen any time soon.." mumbled Lily, crossing out a particularly dreadful section about methods of recognition._

_Her distractor merely smiled. _

"_Wanna bet?"_

_She sighed. "Not really, no."_

"_Afraid you'll lose? I'll tell you what – you can have the prize anyway."_

_Lily smacked her lips at her essay, only half paying attention. _

"_What prize?"_

"_Why, a kiss from your favourite Quidditch player of course!" smiled James, looking as radiant as ever._

_Lily looked up at him. _

"_Really, do you mean that?!" she said with faked exitement, batting her lashes at him and smiling._

_For a second James' eyes widened, his lips drawing apart._

" – _you really think Archer would kiss me?" continued Lily._

_Hazel eyes immediately lost their glow._

"_Ha ha, very cute" he said drily. "No my Lilyflower – I know you're too embarrassed to admit you like me. But don't worry! I can see it quite clearly in your eyes…." He flashed her his most charming smile, leaning a little closer over the tabletop._

"_Those pretty green eyes of yours are just screaming my name, aren't they….."_

_Lily raised her eyebrows. _

"_Oh yeah, sure. I need you bad Potter. Take me now."_

"_Great!" he answered, and in one smooth movement kissed her nose, leaned back across the table, and stood up._

"_Pick you up Saturday at eight then!"_

_And with that, he turned and ambled happily towards the dormitory stairs._

"_Hey, wait a minute Potter! I said, it's not happening!" Lily shouted after him. _

"_You hear me Potter?"_

_He turned at the foot of the stairs and winked._

"_Sure! And don't forget to wear something nice!"_

"_Potter!"_

"_Like a dress maybe. I like those short ones, you know…."_

"_Ha! You disgust me!"_

"_By all means Lilykins - if you'd rather go naked, I won't complain!"_

"_POTTER!!!"_

_But James had disappeared around the bend of the stairs._

_Lily chuckled, despite herself, and touched her nose where he had kissed it._

_A big-headed, arrogant, too-cool-for-school moron he might be….. But he had style, she had to admit that._

_With a small smile she returned to her paper, a pretty blush coloring her cheeks._

_*_

Lily smiled to herself at the memory, as she continued magically drying her hair.

After the rest of the gang had dressed and dried themselves up, Alice and Frank disappeared inside. They were obviously using the opportunity of being out of the castle to, Lily assumed, find a place for some alone-time.

Frank and Alice had been together since 5th year, and Lily loved both of them to pieces. But sometimes it was a bit draining to be around such a lovey-dovey couple all the time. Not that she was jealous or anything.

"Hey, it's only like, 8.30 or something, I'm not going in to hang around with some loser Ravenclaws!" Sirius announced.

"Why don't we make snow lanterns?"

Lily was momentarily taken aback. Snow lanterns? _Sirius Black? _It had to be some scheme to impress the girls again..

But she wasn't ready to go inside yet either, and besides..she liked snow lanterns. And, even though a year ago she would have rather died than admit it, she quite liked hanging around with the marauders. They'd really changed the past six months, and weren't as annoying as they'd been.

"I'm in" she smiled at Sirius.

James, Remus and Peter hurriedly agreed as well.

*

Sirius made them walk a little way away from the house, claiming they needed unsoiled snow. When he finally found a spot he was satisfied with, they sat down and started building.

Lily felt a little strange, sitting there in the snow with four seventeen year old boys, building lanterns. But then again, hadn't she always known all men were 6yearolds at heart?

As Remus repeatedly failed at making two single snowballs stick together(Sirius had insisted, "no cheating with magic!"), Lily had to laugh. He looked over at her with a sheepish smile.

"Help?"

Lily giggled again, moving over and sitting between him and James.

(Sirius and Remus quickly blinked at each other behind her back)

"Look" she told him, "You just have to be a little more careful! Try this…"

And shortly, all of them had together succeeded in making five little lanterns.

Sirius grinned proudly at his work.

"I feel like a muggle already! This wizard-incignito-thing tomorrow'll be a walk in the park! But" and he took on a look of feigned seriousness, "do you know what's missing?"

The others looked at each other.

"Lights! Lights, you dimwits! It's not a lantern if you don't light it!"

Remus stood up.

"Hey, why don't we go inside and see if we can find some candles?" he proposed with an innocent look.

"Yeah", piped Peter, "I'll help!"

And before James or Lily could utter a single word, the three boys had scrambled out of the clearing and back towards the house.

Silence descended among the lanterns and the two youths sitting by them, unnaturally close now that Remus had left.

James cleared his throat.

"Pads, eh?" he smiled uncertainly. "You'd think someone slipped something in his drink tonight, the way he's hopping about.."

Lily emitted a quiet little laugh, absentmindedly playing with her hair.

James noticed her pursing her lips. Those perfect, pink lips..

They sat next to each other in silence a little longer.

"So.. Hey, why don't we find something to light the lantern ourselves? We don't really need a candle do we?" James looked over at his companion.

"Um, no, I guess.. When I was little, my sister and I used to just set fire to sticks and use them as candles" Lily smiled at the memory, with a slight sad look in her eyes.

"Great! I'll get on it!"

James practically jumped up, eager put out of her mind whatever was making Lily smile so sadly, and in the process managed to trip over something and fall flat on his face in the snow.

Lily burst with laughter at the sight, feeling herself relax immediately.

"Hey" she snorted, "are you okay there James?"

She crawled over to him, still giggling.

James grinned back at her. So they were on first-name terms now? No _Potter_?

"I'm fine love, and I think I found what we're looking for!"

He triumphantly dragged up from under him what he'd apparently tripped on – a stick!

This made Lily erupt in giggles again, seeing him so proudly holding up his catch.

"Great, come over here then, and see if you can't make it back without trashing all over the place…" she smiled

James grinned again, and crawled after here back to their lantern. This time they sat next to each other a lot less stiffly.

James held up the stick, and ignited it with a spark from his wand. It instantly erupted in a small flame, and Lily took it from his hand and lowered it to the lantern.

"Hold back the snow while I put it in, so that it doesn't fall.."

James did as he was told, and put his hands down next to hers. The lantern was quite small, so they ended up huddled close together to keep it from falling to pieces.

"Okay" said Lily, suddenly very conscious of just how close they were, "we'll just have to hold it here for a little while until it sticks…"

She felt a blush lightly tinging her cheeks, and hoped he didn't notice.

"Lily" mumbled James softly into her ear.

She looked up, and their eyes locked over the glowing lantern. Their faces were only centimetres apart.

All was quiet around them.

James held her gaze, and slowly leaned in…

Suddenly, Lily felt like she awoke from a dream. What was she doing? This was James Potter, her constant pesterer and annoyance through seven years of school! Why did it suddenly feel so good, sitting here cuddled up beside him?

Confused and embarrassed, she let go of the flaming stick and stood up, nearly knocking James over in her hurry.

"Ah, I should go, it's getting late and..I'm sure Alice is wondering where I am. Well. Um. Anyway, see you tomorrow! Good night!"

And with that, she spun around and disappeared in a near jog towards the house.

James was left alone in the clearing.

O-_kay._

He smiled to himself.

Sure, she might have gotten up at left just as he was getting close, but…

He'd seen the blush.

And he could _swear_ she had been leaning towards him too in end there!

All in all, a _very_ good night.

And tomorrow – he grinned in the dark – the great witch hunt Part B!

He sauntered off towards the house, images flying through his mind of fiery-red hair brushing against his chest, perfect pink lips meeting his own…

*

*

_Author's Notes:_

_Hi fellow LJ-lovers! Like/don't like or have something on your mind? – don't hesitate to drop me a review!_

_Also: I know L and J "really" got together in 6__th__ year – but in this story I've chosen to put them in 7__th__. And that's that _


	4. Chapter 4: Doubts

Take a walk in the snow

**Chapter 4: Doubts.**

The next day passed in a flurry, as the Hogwarts students traipsed up and down the streets of Godric's Hollow in their professors' footsteps.

The village obviously bore no actual trace of the Gryffindor founder, but had several museum-like features visible to wizards only. And even though this was all very nice and interesting, not to mention important work towards their N.E.W.T's, Lily found her mind wandering to completely other things.

Like a certain black-haired boy, and how he seemed to look particularly handsome today.

Or how his eyes seemed to linger on her every time he though she wasn't looking…

No.

She was being silly.

That thing last night? It had probably just been some sort of bet with his friends. "Who thinks I can get a kiss form Evans tonight?!" or something.

It _would_ be just their style..

After all, Sirius and the others had mysteriously all disappeared at once, leaving her alone with James. Hadn't they? And the snow lanterns - they'd been Sirius' idea!

Lily suddenly reddened, as realization dawned and embarrassment and anger rose in her.

Those bastards!

They'd just been having fun at her expense!

Why didn't she realize this yesterday?

Thank god she didn't fall for it, she would never have heard the end of it... Who the hell did he think he was anyway, playing with her like that?!

And she'd _almost _started believing that he really had changed these past months.

Stupid!

Her hands curled to fists as she trudged aggressively through the snow.

Guys like Potter never changed.

Her fiery red hair bounced angrily behind her as she walked on, mentally lashing out to her fellow Head of house.

*

The four marauders wandered along somewhere at the end of the long line of students. Peter was just telling them about how one of the Ravenclaw girls had given him 'a certain look' when they were standing by the fountain earlier, listening to Slughorn churn on.

"'A certain look'!" snorted Sirius in between waves of laughter.

"Maybe you were standing on her foot!"

"Or smelled!" added James, elbowing Peter with a grin.

Peter was beetroot-red, but still looked at the pair of them stubbornly.

"No! I'm telling you, it was _a certain look_ - in a good way. I was thinking, maybe I should ask her out?"

Sirius chuckled.

"Yeah, go ahead Worms, we could all use a good laugh…"

Peter looked at him angrily, but said nothing. He rarely argued with Sirius, and after nearly 7 years still seemed a little afraid of him.

"Shut your face Padfoot" sighed Remus, and turned to Peter.

"If you really like her Peter, go ahead and ask her out" he offered with a kind smile, "but maybe you should test the waters a bit more first? Like…talk to her?"

Peter's blush subsided a little, as he nodded helplessly.

"I guess…I just don't know what to say."

James nodded thoughtfully to himself. When it came right down to it, he knew exactly how Peter felt. A girl might give you the evil eye and treat you like you're a complete prat most of the time…But if you know the chemistry's there – it's there!

Like with Lily.

Perfect Lily.

After she had left him to wander back to the house on his own last night, he had found his friends and given them the play-by-play of the evening. They'd all agreed that it was amazing progress, and she was definitely warming up to him. Sirius had been disappointed that they hadn't kissed – like the original plan had been – but James wasn't too bothered.

There was plenty of time for that tonight.

He'd never admit this to his friends, but he hadn't been able to sleep for hours and hours last night. He'd just lain awake, running through the evening in his head again and again, treasuring every moment of it.

After at least three and a half years of longing, he was finally seeing the signs he'd been waiting for.

Maybe it's wasn't all hopeless after all!

Busy with these happy thoughts, he didn't notice McGonagall until he nearly walked into her.

"Oh!" he coughed, "Professor, I'm sorry, didn't see you there."

"Yes, well" she said dryly, "maybe you should start paying more attention to the world around you and spend less time daydreaming then, Mr. Potter."

James grinned sheepishly.

"Sorry, professor" he repeated.

"It's all right. In fact, I'm here to inform you of a Head Boy duty which I'm sure will bring your mind back to the present."

She sent him a small, thin smile, and James felt his heart sink into his shoes. Head Boy duties?

As she explained what the duties contained however, his heart quickly soared back up to his chest. A night-time treasure hunt for all the students? Roaming around the village on their own? Leading the hunt -_ paired with Lily, alone?_

This was turning out to be an even better evening than he had expected!

The professor told him to inform Lily of the duty, and that they were to report to her and Slughorn later for more info. She then left him in his slightly dazed state.

"Guys!" he burst out incredulously, "did you hear that? I'm going to spend all night alone with Lily! And it's Head Duty – so she can't leave!"

The monstrous grin threatened to split his face in half.

"Prongs, what did I tell you?" boomed Sirius with a grin, "Plan's working bloody perfectly!"

Remus and Peter also agreed happily, slapping him on the back.

"I can't bloody believe it, it's insane! I'm telling you guys, tonight is the night I finally kiss Lily!" James punched the air with a victorious grin.

"Without getting slapped!!"

*

"Oi! Lily, wait up!"

Lily heard the voice shouting her name, but walked on in dignified silence. She would not give him the pleasure of showing how angry she was – he would have loved to see that he'd gotten to her.

"Lily!"

Merlin, did he always have to be this loud?

Finally, he caught up with her, and slowed down to walk beside her.

"Hey, didn't you hear me? I have something to tell you" he said, slightly out of breath.

When she didn't answer, he simply continued.

Lily listened without looking at him as he explained what McGonagall had said. Head duty? Treasure hunt? Responsible, alone with James?? No!

She took a deep breath, and fought to keep herself calm. She would not lash out to him, that's exactly what he wanted. He had probably suggested this to the professors himself.

"Lily? Won't it be fun? Treasure hunting in the village, all night, just you and me? It'll be great!"

He beamed down at her, looking positively overjoyed.

Why was he smiling like that, Lily asked herself. Was he planning something? Were he and his friends going to gang up on her somehow? Steal her stuff, try to expose her to the muggles, something like that?

But he didn't look mischevious, she had to admit. Walking beside her, grinning down at her like he'd just won the Quiddich World Cup or something, he just looked…happy.

Lily shook her head. No, she was not getting drawn into this.

"Great? Trudging along in the freezing snow in the middle of the night with _you_ is not my definition of great, Potter. Did you put the professors up to this?" she asked coldy.

His smile faltered a little.

"No, McGonagall just asked me a minute ago. But come on Lily, you'll love it! No professors, no other people, just us?"

His smile regained strength as his eyes took on a familiar glimmer. "Don't worry about the cold either, I promise to keep you nice and toasty sweetheart.."

Lily looked furious. "If you so much as _think_ about putting your filthy paws anywhere near me tonight, I'll hex your arse well into next year!" she spat.

"Just because you somehow managed to become Head Boy and force your presence on me this year, doesn't mean it's welcome! I'll do my duty, you'll do yours, and other than that you can get the heck out of my face Potter!"

And with one last poisonous look she turned on her heel and disappeared into the throng of students around them.

James was left looking utterly forlorn and confused.

What had just happened?

Had he done something to upset her between last night and now? He hadn't even talked to her until this very moment!

And she'd seemed completely happy last night.

Girls. Couldn't live with them, couldn't live without them…and apparently couldn't talk to them either.

He needed help.

Marauder help.

*

Lily wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her cloak as she hurried through the group of walking students.

When she finally found the face she was looking for, she stopped right in her tracks.

"Alice!"

The round-faced brunette looked up with a smile, which quickly changed to a surprised look when she saw her friend in tears.

"Lily, what's wrong?" she asked, pulling her best friends towards her in a hug. "What happened?"

Lily hugged her back for a couple of seconds, but then pulled away, feeling silly.

"Oh, it's nothing really. I don't know what I'm getting all upset about" she smiled weakly, but kept the hold of her friend's hand as they fell into step with the group around them.

Alice handed her a handkerchief.

"Okay. Is it something or someone?"

Lily chuckled. That was their traditional question when either of them were sad. With Alice it was usually some_one_, most commonly a fight with Frank or a bit of jealousy, while Lily tended to stay in the realm of 'something's.The certain some_ones_ usually just got her angry.

"Honestly? This time it's someone. That moron Potter is acting an arse as usual." She answered.

"James? But it sounded like you had such a good time last night, what happened?"

Lily had told Alice about the lantern-building last night, and how James had actually been both decent and…nice. Alice had known him for as long as Lily, and was secretly rooting for him when it came to his pursuit of Lily.

Sure, he could be a bit of a prat sometimes, but all boys were. And where Lily saw only cockiness, she recognized his self-confidence and talent. But now, the prat-side had obviously come out again…

"Nothing. He's just being Potter" Lily snorted.

"I think the whole romantic thing he pulled last night is just a new prank or something. Do you know what he's done? There's going to be a treasure hunt tonight, and he's fixed it so I'm paired with _him _and have to walk around all night in the dark alone with him. And, and, he made some _disgusting _insinuation about keeping me warm all night or something.."

She blushed, and kicked the snow in front of her.

"It's just like before, just going after me for some bet or something, or to trick me. It's sickening, and I hate him!"

The two friends walked alongside each other in silence for a minute.

"But…did he actually say anything about a bet or anything? I mean, I know he was a bit like that before, but he's been different this last year. Are you sure you're not jumping to conclusions?" Alice looked at her tentatively.

The air seemed to go out of Lily a bit.

"Oh, I don't know…It just seems unlikely. Why is he always chasing me around like that, when I've never been anything but mean towards him? There has to be some reason I don't know about. And I just…I don't want to get duped, you know?"

Alice smiled.

"Lily! You need to relax a little. I know this might sound incredulous to you – but in fact, not all guys are complete idiots!"

Lily laughed. "I dunno, just because you've been lucky enough to meet Frank doesn't mean other guys can match up to him."

"True, true" grinned Alice. "But seriously though Lil, I think you should give him a chance. Don't judge him too soon, he's a good guy."

Lily chuckled a bit more.

"Yeah…I don't know though. I mean, when all is said and done; even if he _is_ interested in me, I'm not at all sure I like him as more than a friend! Or a friend at all, for that matter.."

"I see what you mean. Maybe we need a plan to find out? Those guys aren't the only ones who can scheme! After all, we're the smarter sex!" Alice grinned at her friend.

"A plan to find out whether I'm interested or not?" Lily played with the thought in her head. "And maybe to check how genuine his interest is as well? I like it!"

The two friends walked on, talking and giggling at their own suggestions.


	5. Chapter 5: Dreams and schemes

Take a walk in the snow

**Chapter 5: Dreams and schemes and Ferris wheels**

*

Four unusually quiet marauders walked along a snowy path.

James had just returned and told his friends about Lily – how she had been cold and angry with him for no apparent reason at all. Sirius had tried claiming that all girls had mood-swings and she'd soon perk up, but the encouragement didn't work. They all knew Lily, and she wasn't one to be overly dramatic for now reason.

So they'd come to the conclusion that James must have done something wrong.

The only question was: What? How did you hurt and infuriate a girl overnight without having seen or talked to her?

The boys were clueless.

"Okay.." began Remus, "maybe you should just give up and apologize?"

The others looked at him.

"I mean, she's obviously mad and most likely expecting an apology, so it couldn't hurt could it? Even if you don't know what you're apologizing _for_…"

James sighed.

"I dunno" he mumbled. "She was really furious, I think she'd notice if I apologized without knowing why."

Sirius snorted, but Remus gave an agreeing nod.

"How about you just turn on the Potter charm again?" suggested Peter. "You know, like last night? Worked great then..."

Sirius snorted.

"Yeah, or you could just stuff some Amortentia in her?"

The boys chuckled half-heartedly.

"Oh come _on_!" Sirius rolled his eyes. "You guys are depressing me! What's the big deal? Just do what I do!"

Remus lifted an eyebrow.

"What, snog her in a broom closet and then avoid her the rest of the year?"

"Sneak into her dorm?" added Peter. "Then accidentally hit on her sister instead?"

Sirius was suddenly all big, innocent puppy eyes."What? I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about."

He grinned. "But seriously Prongs, I mean it – You've got to make her jealous!"

James stared at him, for a second unable to open his mouth. Why, oh why, was he friends with these people? No wonder he wasn't getting anywhere with Lily. The second he fixed this mess, he'd get to work on Scheme Get-James-Some-New-And-Better-And-Not-Bloody-Moronic-Friends.

He sighed again.

"Are you out of your mind Pads? She already hates me, and I'm gonna make her angrier? Besides – why would she be jealous?"

"Prongs, Prongs, Prongs…" Sirius shook his head.

"I'll let you in on a little secret here. All girls are players of the game. If you follow them around like a lovesick puppy and beg for their attention all day, they'll simply consider you a friend – or despise you for being so pathetic. But the second you seem to lose interest, or even better: if someone else is interested in you – " he made a gesture as if he was swishing an imaginary wand, "suddenly you're the most interesting guy on the planet!!"

Sirius grinned proudly, like he'd just solved all the world's problems in one stroke.

"It's magic!" he announced happily.

The other three boys looked at him thoughtfully for a second.

"Padfoot?" It was Remus who broke the silence. "That's actually not the dumbest thing I've heard."

The others eyed him incredulously. Since when did Remus complement Sirius on his ways with girls?

"Don't get me wrong, it's certainly cynical, mean and chauvinistic - but not dumb. I mean Prongs, you don't have to do anything really _bad, _just…."

Remus let the sentence hang in the air, lifting his eyebrow at James. Sirius kept grinning, looking immensely proud at having been called 'not dumb'.

James looked down, still a little doubtful.

"I dunno, guys…" he muttered. "What if she just hates me even more. Or worse – doesn't care?!"

"No worries, mate! It's a patented Sirius Black-method - It'll work!" Sirius grinned again, and fished out a cigarette from his pocket.

James couldn't help but crack a grin at his friend's self-assuredness. "I suppose you have a point there, my furry friend…"

"I've got the black book to prove it anyway" Sirius grinned, "and that's more than you miserable virgin lot can say for yourselves."

He lit the cigarette with a pointed look at Remus.

Remus shot him one if his 'Padfoot, you're world's biggest arse and if you don't shut up I'll hex your unmentionables pink'-looks. "Shut up" he mumbled, taking the offered cigarette from Sirius' hand.

"You're just jealous because no-one's pulling _you_ into closets and snogging you senseless...At least not that we know of?"

"Trust me, I'm not jealous."

"Are too, Moony-boy!"

"No."

"Yes you are! Just say it – you want to borrow my black book?"

"Shut up."

"Hey, wanna know why it's called a 'Black book'?"

"Padfoot. Mouth. Shut."

"Moo-oony's jealous, Moo-ooney's jee-ealoo-uus…"

-snap!-

"Oi!"

"Ha! Mine! Now lets' see about his book… Denise Croach?? Ouch!"

"Shaddup!"

"…And does this say _Sid_?? Something you haven't told us, Paddy?"

"It's a girl's name, you git! Short for…Sidney. She's Australian. Now gimme back my book!"

*

When the students finally returned to the house for dinner that afternoon, Lily was feeling much better.

She and Alice had taken their scheming seriously, and eventually come up with a plan. To find out how sincere James' devotion to Lily was, they'd decided to give him the night of his life. Though, perhaps, not in the way he imagined it.

The plan wasn't entirely thought out yet, but the general idea was peppering James with hexes, charms, and various other trials to see how long he'd actually stay by Lily's side. If he put her safety and comfort above his own, like he always claimed to do, she'd know he was for real. And if not….well, then he really was the bastard Lily had always taken him for. Case closed.

Though she'd never admit it, Lily felt a little nervous.

Despising James Potter was one thing – She was used to that. He'd shower her with complements and attention, ask her on dates and give her gifts….and she'd make snarky comebacks, snubb his tries and yell at him when he acted a complete fool. That's how it had always been, and somewhere along the way it had gone from annoying pest to comfortable ritual.

And now?

Well. She might not hate him anymore, but she didn't _love _him either. Alice kept trying to push her into giving him a chance, but Lily couldn't quite make herself do it. Things were good now – who knew what would happen if she suddenly answered yes the next time he asked her out? He might not even mean it anymore. And she hadn't forgotten how mean and arrogant he could be. The memories of that time with Severus by the lake still bothered her.

No, Lily wasn't taking any chances.

*

Alice had left her friend as soon as they came back, excusing herself with the need to find Frank. Now however, she was standing strangely still outside McGonagall's proverbial office, trying to look like she was busy tying her shoelaces. In reality, she was waiting for some Hufflepuffs to pass by and leave her alone in the corridor.

She knew McGonagall was still busy outside, but was unsure of for how long.

Alice was all for Lily's plan, but she still felt it lacked an important bit. Of course James would prove his love for Lily – that went without saying. But how would that make Lily realize she loved him too? Lily was Alice's best friend, and she loved her dearly, but sometimes that girl didn't know what was good for her.

And James Potter was one of those 'sometimes'.

So, Alice had decided, as best friend she would have to take the matter into her own hands. She knew from personal experience (Frank had never lacked female admirers) that nothing made your own feelings for someone as painfully obvious as a tiny little spark of….…Jealousy.

And so it was that she found herself alone in McGonagall's office, poring over the lists of partnerings for tonight treasure hunt, looking for a certain name.

There!

Remus John Lupin.

Remus was a good friend of both James and Lily, and Alice knew if there was someone she could count on in her mission, it was him. He was a sweet and sensible guy, and surely realized how perfect those two were for each other. And it didn't hurt that he had a certain mischievous glint as well.

So Remus was partnered with….Jane Archer?

Alice paused. Jane was the little sister of former quidditch captain Robert Archer, and as far as Alice could see she was just as dazzling to the opposite sex as her brother had been. Her long, ash blonde hair and dark blue eyes had mesmerized more than a few boys over the last years. And it just so happened that she'd been partnered with Alice in potions this past semester, and they'd gotten to know each other quite well. That girl was always up for a laugh.

Perfect!

Alice smiled to herself.

Now all she had to do was explain matters to Jane, convince Remus, set it all up…And this would work like a charm!

Because really, anyone with half a brain could see that Lily and James were made for each other.

They just needed a little friendly guidance.

***

_A.N.: I just want top say thanks to everyone who's reading, reviewing, alerting and favouriting – it's all very much noticed and appreciated!_

_Hope you're ready for the Treasure Hunt and big finale! I'll appreciate it immensely if you drop me a line and let me know what you think _


	6. Chapter 6: Playing the Game

Take a walk in the snow.

-

**Chapter 6: Playing the game **

-

_A.N: I'm so sorry about the delay, guys! Things have been crazy here, but I'm back on track now. Hope you'll enjoy this chapter!! L._

***

"Whoa!"

James jumped backwards, narrowly escaping the strange object which had almost hit him straight in the face. The thing whirred around again, and disappeared before he could look closer and see what it was.

"…Okay, what the _hell _was that?"

He was breathing hard, and stared incredulously over at Lily. She had been walking behind him, and was now standing there with an uncharacteristically sweet and wide-eyed expression.

"Wow, I don't know James. I had no idea the treasure hunt was supposed to be like this!" she smiled innocently.

James wrinkled his eyebrows. He hadn't expected it to be like this either. From what McGonagall had said he'd thought this would be a pleasant walk in the snow, occasionally punctured by some answering of questions about Godric Gryffindor or something. He and Lily had even helped put up the question-posts, hidden from muggle eyes of course, and it had all seemed perfectly innocent. But now?

Twice had he walked into into invisible walls, once with the result of falling back into a rather unpleasant thorny bush, thrice had weird unidentified things threatened to crash into him and forced him to dive for the nearest snowdrift, and he was sure he on multiple occasions had heard someone following them. There had been hexes too – completely out of the blue they had come, and more than once had Lily had to save him from a jelly-legs curse or a bodybind. His glasses had been smashed twice (and subsequently charmed back together), his uniform ripped, and he had stopped counting how many times he'd had to magically dry himself up after being drenched in snow. After the fourth time, the cold starting to set in his bones and he was freezing. To sum it all up – James was exhausted.

And in the middle of all this, of course he had to protect Lily.

He supposed all of this was an added challenge to the treasure hunt, and therefore nothing really dangerous would happen, but that didn't mean he could stand by and let Lily be hexed. So James walked in front, shielding her from whatever might occur next, and keeping an eye out for mysterious movements and sounds. Lily seemed oblivious anyway – she just meandered around happily, and continued to talk loudly and even _hum _even though he had warned her several times they needed to be quiet and not draw attention to themselves. To be hones it was getting on his nerves a little, that humming – it was as if she _wanted_ whoever was casting these hexes to hear where they were!

There was one good thing though. Whatever had been bothering Lily when she snapped at James earlier today seemed to have passed – she was acting perfectly normal. Actually, James considered, maybe she was even more cheerful than usual? Particularly considering they were under fierce attack from strange forest-stalkers.

Strange.

But then again - James had never claimed to understand girls.

"Okay, maybe we should go on" he finally suggested, after catching his breath. "I think the next question-post is near. Here, take my hand and stay behind me."

James reached out to Lily, figuring it was better if they stayed close. The idea of Lily being harmed by anything was unthinkable, even if she _was_ being a bit thoughtless about the humming. He'd promised after the first hex that he'd protect her, and he'd rather be battered and soaked a thousand times more than break his promise. No, a million times.

"Are you sure? I could go first for a while you know, if you want…?" said Lily, looking at him from under her eyelashes and smiling.

Cold and tired as he was, James couldn't help but grin.

"Never, my Lily-flower! I'll shield you until my dying day if I have to!" He laughed, flashing her his most charming smile, and even winked for good measure before turning to walk in the direction of the next post.

Lily caught hold of the hand he stretched out behind him. His hand felt nice and strong, and she reveled in the warmth of the bigger palm against hers.

This was the best plan she'd ever come up with!

James was being so sweet. And Lily was starting to see the attraction of those pranks he and his friends were always pulling too – this was kind of fun. Particularly seeing as James had no idea it was his own friends who were firing those hexes he so fervently protected her from. Lily smiled again at James' back in front of her. It was so endearing, that overprotective streak. Obviously, Lily could perfectly well take care of herself and he should know that - but it was still sweet. Perhaps Alice had been right about him after all – maybe he wasn't just about the fun of the chase? Maybe he really wanted to get to know _her._

Lily squeezed James' hand a little.

Then she started up her loud humming again. Couldn't risk Alice and Remus losing their track now, could she.

***

Not far away from the hand-holding couple was another girl and boy with their hands intertwined.

But where the first couple held hands gingerly and out of supposed necessity, this couple held each other with a manner suggesting it was as natural as had it been their own hands. Yes, this was indeed the impression Frank and Alice usually gave – they appeared to have been designed for each other, and no one could quite picture one without the other.

At this moment they were certainly living up to their rumor, as they sat crouched behind a shroud of bushes so close together you could barely see where one ended and the other began. But contrary to what you might think, they weren't snogging this time - they were in fact hiding.

Alice watched through the bushes as Lily and James made their way towards the last question post. She was impressed and relieved at what she'd seen so far.

Even though he was continuously peppered with hexes, jinxes and other obstacles by her, Frank, Remus and Jane, James had stuck nicely by Lily's side. He'd shielded her as best he could, and seemed to be taking it all really well. Alice could tell Lily was enjoying it too. The humming they had planned for her, so they would know where she and James was, had gone from sounding forced in the beginning to now being all cozy and happy. It made Alice glad she'd tampered with McGonagall's list of pairings so that she herself was here with Frank. A couple of times they'd actually been too busy enjoying their alone time in the snowy bushes to pay attention to their friends, and they'd had to rely heavily on Lily's humming to find them again.

When Frank gently squeezed her hand, Alice looked up.

"It looks like it's all going according to plan, eh?" said her boyfriend, eyes glittering as he looked at her and smiled.

"Yup" Alice giggled, and pecked him on the nose, "ten points to Gryffindor, if I'm any judge. Now all we need is to add the final touch with Jane, and those two'll just leap into each other's arms!" She grinned mischievously at her boyfriend. "Finally!"

"Speaking of Jane, where are those two?" wondered Frank. "Weren't they supposed to meet us here, now we've reached the final post?"

"All right, all right, what's with the hurry!" sounded a playful girl's voice from behind them. "No need to fret, we're here. Just figured we wouldn't barge in on you too suddenly – one never knows what one might find if one leaves you two alone together for more than ten seconds straight!"

Alice and Frank turned to see a grinning Jane Archer brush through the throng of trees behind them. Remus followed suit right behind her.

"So this is working out quite nicely, no?" Jane pushed her long blonde hair out of her eyes. "Remus and I have been enjoying ourselves anyway. It's rather sweet watching James dive madly in front of Lily at any noise he hears. I thought I'd wet myself laughing when he jumped mile high and fell into the snow just because a crow flew by!"

Frank and Alice chuckled as Jane roared with laughter, doing a quite good impression of James' fall. Remus gave his companion a lopsided smile.

Remus and Jane weren't exactly birds of a feather, and Alice had been a little nervous as to how they would get along. Jane was outgoing, often loud, and tended to tell lots of silly jokes making everyone around her laugh. Remus on the other hand was more of a quiet completative type, but if you got to know him you'd see a guy with a wicked sense of humor and a great mind for pranks…

Fortunately, Remus and Jane seemed to be getting along just fine. They certainly looked comfortable. Alice had been a little worried Remus would think Jane was just silly or annoying, but he was a good judge of character and had obviously seen beyond her loud exterior.

"Sure, they're cute so far" smiled Alice, getting back to the case of James and Lily. "But what do you say we put them to the final test, Miss blonde bombshell?"

Jane barked a final laugh, before tossing her hair back and batting her eyelashes at Alice - in perfect imitation of the kind of girl you would usually find hanging around Sirius Black.

"You bet, hun" smiled Jane with a mock-husky voice, "I'm ready!"

***

Lily and James were just in the middle of the final questionnaire when they heard loud footsteps and crunching snow behind them. James - half expecting another unpleasant surprise in the form of a hex - turned on his heel, wand on the ready. He was relieved, however, when he saw it was simply another treasure hunting-pair. Danger avoided.

Lily had to hide a smile at James' nervous reaction.

"James, it's Remus! Looks like he's with Jane Archer, from Ravenclaw" she said, before waving enthusiastically at the approaching couple. "Hey guys!"

Remus waved back, as he and Jane entered the small opening in which the question-post was placed.

"Hi Lil, James. Taking your time, eh? I didn't think we were supposed to be able catch up with each other." Remus grinned.

"Taking our time?!" James' eyebrows threatened to disappear off the top of his forhead. "Considering the attack we've been under, _I_ think we're here in pretty good time!"

Remus chuckled.

"Attack, you mean those couple of hexes between post three and four? Didn't bother me and Jane much."

"Couple of hexes?" James snorted. "Lily and I were peppered during the entire hunt. I guess _some of us_ got off easy. Probably because we're Head Boy and Head Girl – so no-one can complain about favoritism or whatever. Typical."

Jane laughed a tinkering laugh at this, and flashed James a smile which to Lily looked a lot sweeter than what was strictly needed. As far as she knew, Jane and James barely knew each others names.

"Oh, that is _so _typical, James, you're right" said Jane. "But were you really under attack the whole hunt? That must have been so scary!"

The blonde girl had such a wide-eyed expression, James was momentarily shaken out of his annoyance at McGonagall(who he assumed was to blame for those hexes).

"Um, scary?"

He considered the statement. Well, sure, he supposed some people might find it scary. After all, he _had_ pretty much single-handedly taken care of it all.

"I dunno about that. It's nothing to be scared of, really" he smiled at the Ravenclaw girl, "I mean, we are wizards aren't we?"

Jane laughed again, touching her hand to his forearm. James hadn't noticed how close the girl was standing, but now he realized she had indeed closed the distance between them. Lily and Remus were left standing off to the side.

"Oh James" she twittered, "that's so _you_. So brave, and yet you never admit to it!"

She removed her hand, but not until it had lain on James arm just a tiny bit longer than he considered casual.

"Um.."

James wasn't entirely sure what this Jane-girl was getting at, but he was acutely aware of Lily standing next to them, her eyes fixed on him.

"I've noticed you on the Quidditch field you know" continued the blonde, "– you're practically fearless! It's so impressive. I'm sure I could never do anything like that.."

This time it was James' turn to laugh, though his chuckle was more of the nervous kind. Was this girl seriously flirting with him?

It wasn't that James was unaccustomed to flirting girls – at the afterparties when they'd won a Quidditch game, there were always girls swooning around the team. But, unlike Sirius, James had never had much interest in them. They were just girls. And by now, the whole school probably knew he was head over heels with Lily anyway.

But this Jane girl…she didn't seem to have caught on, did she?

She was pretty, James had to admit to himself. She had long, sleek blonde hair and dark blue eyes, and quite full pink lips. She looked like the sort of girl Sirius tended to go after – blonde, slim, pretty and too busy worrying about nail polish and hairbrushes to pay attention to the state of the world around her. Nice laugh, though.

"Um" said James again, "I'm sure you could do it if you tried. It's no big deal. I mean, you're a Ravenclaw, I'm sure you're a lot better than me at charms and stuff…"

He realized he sounded a bit weird, but the piercing sapphire-green eyes staring at him were pretty distracting.

"Oh James, you're such a nice guy, you know that?" Jane moved even closer. "It's ridiculous how we don't know each other after going to the same school for nearly seven years, don't you think? I'd certainly like to get to know you better…"

The last sentence was delivered with a grin which left no doubts in James mind – yep, she was flirting alright.

Just as he was searching his mind for a way to let her down gently, James remembered something. Wasn't this exactly what Sirius had been talking about? The jealousy thing had sounded pretty dumb to James, like a lot of Sirius plans did, but after all…If there was something Sirius knew about, then it was girls. And Remus had sort of agreed too, saying he should try it.

Make Lily jealous?

The idea sounded ridiculous…but interesting nevertheless. In his mind, James imagined Lily seeing him with another girl. She'd be overtaken with jealousy, realize how much she loved him, and jump into his arms to give him the sweetest kiss of his life….

Hm.

That didn't sound half bad.

"Get to know each other better?" James cleared his throat. Here we go.

"Yeah, I guess that could be nice" he leaned closer, "it's Jane Victoria isn't it? I remember you from Charms last year – that's a really pretty name."

Was it too much? He hadn't flirted with anyone, unless you counted being taunted by Lily, for years.

"Really?" Ravenclaw Jane beamed at him. _Allright, he's flirting back - cue Lily._ "You think it's pretty?" she giggled at him.

"Yeah" James searched his mind for something more to say, noticing how Lily's body had stiffened next to him. "Yeah, of course. Hey, I was thinking – when we get back to school, it's Hogsmeade weekend this weekend isn't it?"

Jane's eyes seemed to waver for a bit before she answered. Had she looked over at Lily for a second? It was probably James' imagination.

"Um" this time it was Jane's turn to hesitate, "Hogsmeade weekend, yeah I think so. Sure."

She smiled again, though with a bit of hesitation again, James thought. Had he said something wrong?

He let his eyes flick over to Lily for a split second. She was standing perfectly still, and had averted her eyes. In fact, she was staring at the ground. In the back of his mind, James noticed Remus shuffling uncomfortably next to Lily. Why wasn't she reacting like Sirius had said she would? Maybe he was being too careful, maybe he wasn't being flirtatious enough.

"Great" he flashed his most handsome smile at Jane. "Would you like to go with me then? Like you said, we can…get to know each other better." He winked at her, for good measure.

"Oh" said a surprised Jane. "Well…yeah, of course, I'd love to." In her mind, Jane sighed to herself. What was this flirting back on James' behalf, and why on earth wasn't Lily reacting?! Merlin, how much more could she step it up?

"I can't wait to get you all to myself, Jamieboy…" Jane added. Ten seconds more – tops! – and she was calling this off! Alice or no Alice!

James shuddered. Jamieboy? How much longer was he supposed to keep this up? Why hadn't Sirius been a little more specific?!

He swallowed, leaning closer. This was it.

"So…seal it with a kiss?" His voice sounded forced, but it was the best he could do.

Jane looked flabbergasted beneath him, but tilted her chin up.

"You bet." She sounded strangled.

The two teens inched closer to each other, both looking as though they were being dragged towards the gallows. Mouth neared each other with the speed of snails on valium, but they would probably have met eventually. If it hadn't been for the scream. And the sharp pain in James cheek as Lily's wand hit him square in the face, knocking him off his balance and making him fall into a heap in front of Jane.

And then everything was dead quiet.

Exept from the sounds of footsteps in the snow as Lily disappeared into the forest.

***

_Author's Notes: If you're reading this, that means you didn't give up midway in this terrible long chapter! So – thanks for that! __ Please let me know what you thought of it!_


	7. Chapter 7: Our Lives

**Chapter 7: Our lives.**

The forest clearing was dead quiet. Remus and Jane stood frozen in their positions, not moving a limb.

James was equally quiet on the ground next to them. It was as if he was afraid of breaking a spell – as if his laying completely quiet would keep it all from being true. However, the snow seeping through his trousers and sweater was getting pretty hard to ignore, and he eventually conceded to getting up. As he did, he nearly stepped on something on the ground.

Lily's wand.

Oh _merlin._ Not only did she hate him now, but she was running around all alone in the pitch-black forest _without her wand_! What if something happened to her? It would be all his fault!

And Sirius'. And Jane's. He suddenly remembered he wasn't alone, and turned towards his classmates.

Remus and Jane stood as still as ever, still shocked.

Remus wanted to thump his head on a tree. Could this possibly had gone any worse? _Why _did he always agree to other people's _stupid _plans?! And now Lily was gone(without her wand too), and James was standing there looking like a puppy trying to understand why he'd been kicked – and _Jane _looked like the regretful accidental puppy-kicker. So who was there left to fix the mess?

Remus.

Well, if it really was up to him, then he would do it his way. Because if there was something Remus Lupin valued then it was knowledge, and there was a lot of not knowing going on here.

It was a bit like when their pranks went wrong because of some secret last-minute addition by Prongs or Padfoot. Remus didn't so much mind the breaking of the rules or the detention – but he _detested _not knowing what was going on. Because if you didn't know all the facts, how could you ever get anything right?

"Um…Prongs, mate?"

Puppy-eyes turned Remus' way with a vague glimmer of hope.

The werewolf took a deep breath, and forced himself to continue.

"Look, there's something _Jane and I.._" he shot the embarrassed blonde a look, "should probably tell you about what happened just now…."

And as the explanation uncurled, occasionally disrupted by the odd exclamation, oath or death threat, the sun continued its descent behind the hills leaving the forest in twilight.

Meanwhile, in an hitherto unexplored place in the forest, a fiery redhead discovered that neither ginger hair nor righteous anger were particularly useful in lighting up the ground around you, should you have lost your wand.

Or thrown it at someone. With a vengeance.

The darkness seemed to be murkier now that she was alone. Alone, lonely, lonesome…Lily the Ludicrous Loner….

No! She would _not_ start simpering to herself like a useless damsel in distress!

She was Lily Evans, witch - independent, strong-willed and in no way the kind of girl who needed a _boy. _For _anything!_

And yet…think in italics she might, but she couldn't lie to herself. Why would he…do that?

Why would he be so nice to her, look out for her, say such nice things, be so charming and sweet and funny, talk with her so easily, fit so perfectly in her hands…if he didn't really mean it?

Why did boys always _lie?_

Despite herself, she felt her anger dissipating, crumbling to nothing. She didn't feel angry anymore. She hardly even felt sad, she just felt…empty. Disappointed.

Some part of her had always warned her James was like this, but somehow she hadn't really believed it. Hid behind it, sure, but that was just natural precaution. Deep down she'd always known he was different.

Well, so much for knowing. It had just been hope after all – silly, girlish, romantic, sticky hope. She sighed to herself.

Fine.

She'd been wrong, and embarrassing as it was, at least he didn't know. He didn't know. So all she really had to do was go back to how things were before, right? Ignore him, and hope he was too busy with that blonde _tart_ to bother Lily anymore. And _never _let him know she'd been angry. Or sad.

She could do that.

No problem.

And just as she took a deep breath and got ready to find her way back, she heard shuffling in the dark behind her. She instantly froze.

Was there something in the forest?

Honestly, this was _England_. What could it be, a crow? A badger, at worst? Seriously.

Clearing her throat, she fervently wished she hadn't thrown away her wand. She'd heard badgers could be quite dangerous if scared.

"Um…Is somebody there?" she ventured, keeping her voice steady.

The shuffling abruptly stopped.

"Lily? LILY? Is that you?" James voice carried loudly through the trees.

Lily straightened her shoulders. Okay, time to act normal. And come up with a bloody good excuse for throwing her wand at him and bolting.

"Lily? Where are….oh!" James jogged out from behind a thicket and found himself face to face with his redhaired beauty.

"Oh, here you are, I thought you'd, well….Er, good", he finished lamely.

"Right", said Lily in an indifferent voice, "sorry if I surprised you, but I thought I saw something among the trees and figured it could be the...people who hexed us. But I didn't find anything. So, shall we be getting back?" she asked, already turning toward the direction James came for and avoiding his eyes.

James licked his lips. If Remus was right, and he usually was, Lily actually liked him. Even though she seemed indifferent now, she…Enough thinking! She was starting to walk back towards the others, and if he didn't say anything now, how would he ever fix things?

And so he took himself by the scruff of the neck and jumped into it.

"Lily! I, I _like _you. Like, a lot. _Really_."

It wasn't the most suave of his declarations, but there it was. He'd said it, no jokes or winks or outrageous gestures.

Lily had turned away from him to leave, and she didn't turn around again. But at least she stopped.

"Look", James tried again, "I know I'm an arse sometimes, or all the time I guess, but I really mean it. I wouldn't have…Well, I haven't dated anyone else these past years have I?"

At that, Lily turned, face still indifferent. "I'm sure I don't care who you date, Potter."

"Oh come on, Lily!" James was getting frustrated. Here he was, pouring his heart out, and she still pretended not to care? But Remus had _said…_

"You ran out, Lils! You ran out and bloody _threw our wand at me!_ And Remus told me about the hexing, so don't pretend you saw something! Admit it, you got mad at me for.."

Lily's cheeks grew deep red. _Remus, what the hell!_ "Look, _Potter_" she cut him off_, "_I don't care what you think! You can snog as many tarts as you want, see how much I care! You're nothing to me, okay? NOTHING!"

Lily realized she was screaming now, and panting, and doing a horrible job of acting normally. But as the tears welled up in her eyes, she couldn't make herself stop them.

"I HATE you, you know that? I hate the way you're always so _arrogant_, always thinking you can have anything you want….And you just play with people, make them all like you and then you move on to the next one, and you think you're so outstanding with your quidditch, and your looks, and your grades, and your stupid friends, and I just…."

And then she sobbed.

And in a flash he was there, gathering her up in his arms, stroking her back as she hid her face in his chest and let her tears stain the front of his cloak.

"I'm sorry" James mumbled into her hair, so low he wasn't sure he heard her. "I don't know what I was thinking, I just needed to know if you…cared at all, I guess", he whispered. "You just never…not that I expect you to, I know I'm an idiot next to you. But..I don't care about anyone else, you know. I promise I won't hurt you, ever again, if you just…give me chance." Lily's small sobs had subsided now, and her breath was steadying against his chest.

James carefully stroked the flame-red hair over one of her shoulders. "I'm certainly never taking Sirius' advice again" he mumbled.

Lily chuckled wetly. She drew a breath, and moved a couple of inches back so she could look up at him. "I'm glad" she half-smiled. "and I'm sorry too you know. You're not an idiot next to me. Or anyone."

And as she tipped her face up towards him, he seemed to disappear into those emerald orbs…

"HEY GUYS! Where are you?! Prongs! Evans? Oi, Prongsieboy!"

The nearly touching lips jerked away from each other, as a certain blach haired mutt bounced toward them, followed by five other youths.

"Sirius, dude, whatcha doing here? Er.." said James, running his suddenly Lily-less hands through his hair.

"Ella and I ran into Alice, Frank, Remus and Jane over there, they said you and Evans here had disappeared into the forest or something….so…?" He trailed off suggestively, cocking an eyebrow at his mate.

James cleared his throat. No way Sirius was going to ruin things for him again. "Right", he ventured, "we thought we saw the last post. But then we realized, ofcourse" he laughed awkwardly, "the one you guys were at _was _the last one. So…how about we all head back to the house together? Night's still young, eh mate?"

Sirius grinned at him. "Right you are! It's our last night, and I still haven't taken the opportunity to sneak into the girl's dormitory now that there are no stairs..Let's go!"

And with an arm around his partner Ella's shoulders, Sirius led them back toward the house to deliver their results from the hunt to the teachers.

James and Lily exchanged quick, furtive smiles before they joined the gang chatting their way back home.

Clang. Clang-clang. Clang.

Lily awoke to the sound of pattering on the window. She got up, carefully feeling her way in the darkness among sleeping girls, and reached the window. Outside a wand lit up the snow with a soft, yellow-ish light. But what drew her eyes was the messy-haired boy grinning up at her with a handful of pebbles in his hand.

Lily grinned back, and opened the window. "What are you doing?" she whispered, laughing. "You could just as easily have woken up McGonagall!"

"Nah" he whispered back with his signature air of self-assuredness. "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. Can you get down on your own, or do you want a hand?"

Lily smiled. "I've got it" she whispered, before clambering out the window and, her fingers holding on to the ledge, lowering herself to the ground. With a swish of her wand, the window closed itself soundlessly.

James nodded in appreciation. "Soundless spells, nice. And the wiew of that climb wasn't bad either…" He laughed silently, and jumped out of the way as Lily playfully smacked her wand at him. "Come on, I wanna show you something. Will you take a walk in the snow with me?" He flashed her his widest grin.

He took her by the hand, and they half walked half stumbled through the snow toward the nearest trees, Lily still in her slippers. "Oh, you want to show me…the trees?" she lifted her eyebrows at him. "Gee mr. Potter, you're such a…man of the world!"

"Shut up! This happens to be a perfect spot!" he answered reproachfully, a crooked smile playing at the corner of him mouth.

They half ran the last couple of metres, him tugging her along and then stopping abruptly behind the first tree, pulling her close.

"A perfect spot?" Lily breathed, looking up at him, still mildly laughing. "What ever for?" she mumbled, as his arms snaked around her waist.

"For you, of course" he smiled, "though I suppose any spot would be perfect if you're there."

Lily laughed again. "That's such a cliché!" She reached up and lightly put her hand on his shoulder. "But that's okay. We make a good cliché."

"We do, don't we" said James.

Or at least he meant to.

Only his lips were suddenly busy elsewhere.

Back at the house, a couple of shadows behind the main door stairs suddenly turned into a boy and a girl, arms around each other.

"I told you they're perfect for each other. I just…I can really see them growing old together, you know?" Alice smiled dreamily at the spot where her best friend and James had disappeared among the trees.

"I know" Frank smiled down at her.

"Maybe our kids will be friends when they grow up. Don't you think?"

"Come on, Alice" her boyfriend laughed. "There's no rush. Let's just enjoy things the way they are, eh?"

"Sure, sure". Alice snuggled closer.

"We have our lives in front of us."

_The end._


End file.
